Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Granite Properties competed against U.S. and international investors to buy a Class A office building in the heart of the Denver Tech Center. Granite paid $26.6 million for Prentice Plaza, a distinctive 12-story building that is part of the DTC skyline. The 161,725-squarefoot building at 8101 E. Prentice Ave. in Greenwood Village features attached, structured parking, an on-site deli, a common conference room and is within a block of shops and restaurants at Belleview Promenade. CBRE Senior Vice President Geoff Baukol said there was strong investor interest in the property. “Activity was driven by the opportunity to buy a noncommodity, signature asset in the heart of the Denver Tech Center,” he said, explaining the building is not a typical low-rise suburban office building with surface parking. “This is 12 stories with unmatched amenities in a market where Class A vacancies are below 7 percent and there is upward pressure on lease rates,” Baukol said. “There are a lot of groups that recognized that and pursued Prentice Plaza.” Occupancy at Prentice Plaza was 91 percent at the time of the sale. Major tenants in the building include FedEx and Icon Venue Group, each of which occupies around 15,000 sf, and Ascend Clinical, which leases about 12,000 sf. The property drew interest from international investors, a trend that Denver investment brokers say they have seen increasingly over the last several months. “The amount of international capital that has not only been pursuing Denver, but also has been buying in Denver, is tenfold of what it was even 12 months ago,” said Baukol, who added there was little international capital in the market previously. “They have become a prevalent buyer pool for suburban and CBD product in Denver. Denver has made it on that list without question. That’s a big positive for our market.” Invesco Real Estate, one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, sold Prentice Plaza. Baukol and CBRE Executive Vice President Tim Swan were the listing brokers. Granite Properties is a privately held commercial real estate investment and management company with offices in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles.